Accessibility

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is unmatched in its wildness, history, and scenic beauty. For ALL visitors, a visit to Wrangell-St. Elias takes effort. It is a remote and rugged place. The rewards, though, are always worth the effort. You may find yourself gazing out towards a sea of glacier ice or range of volcanoes, listening to a raging glacial river from the bottom of a limestone canyon, or exploring the buildings and stories of an old copper mine. Whatever your interests and abilities there is something for everyone at Wrangell-St. Elias. We invite you to experience first hand this special place.

On this page you will find services specifically designed to help our visitors with disabilities. If there is something else that we may be able to do to facilitate a meaningful visit for your group please contact us.

 

Wrangell-St. Elias Visitor Center:
The main park visitor center, exhibit building, and theater are wheelchair accessible. The grounds have paved walkways, accessible restrooms, and a scenic section of the boreal forest nature trail is paved, providing inspiring views of the Wrangell Mountains and Copper River. During summer months, park rangers regularly present short interpretive programs along the paved section of this trail. Download the park brochure in English, German, French, Spanish, Korean, and Chinese.

Kennecott Area:
Kennecott is a remote historic site lacking pavement and modern conveniences. However, Wrangell-St. Elias is making every effort to incorporate modern accessibility standards as the site renovations take place. The Kennecott Recreation Hall has a wheelchair accessible ramp. The Power Plant has a street level viewing deck. The deck of the Blackburn School has a wheelchair accessible ramp and view of the dairy barn and glacier. All outhouses in Kennecott meet ADA standards and the Kennecott Visitor Center entrance is accessible. However, due to the rugged location of the place, many of the approaches to the buildings, while navigable by many new wheelchairs, do not meed ADA standards. None of the pathways are paved, historic rail lines are still in place, and the interior of some of the buildings are a network of stairs and elevated walkways.

The newly remodeled door at the top of the historic mill is wheelchair accessible. By appointment rangers are available to transport visitors in wheelchairs or with mobility impairments to the top story of the mill where they can see the tram lines coming in from the Bonanza and Jumbo Mines and the top floor of the crushers. On a sunny day, this location also has a stunning view of Mount Blackburn, the Kennicott Glacier, the Chugach Mountains, and McCarthy.

Captions for the The Kennecott Mill film can be turned on upon request. Simply ask the ranger introducing the film to turn on the captions.

Note: the vehicles available for transport to the top of the Mill are not specially equipped. Contact the Kennecott Visitor Center to make an appointment. Advance reservations are requested.

Hearing Assistance
A Hearing Helper Tour Guide System (216 MHz) is available for use with any of the regularly scheduled National Park Service Ranger Programs and for the Mill Tours provided by St. Elias Alpine Guides. The system amplifies the sound of the program leader's voice. It can accommodate up to six hard-of-hearing participants at a time.

To ensure the Hearing Helper system is available for the program you would like to attend please contact the appropriate location:
For Kennecott ranger programs: the Kennecott Visitor Center
For Copper Center ranger programs: the Wrangell-St. Elias Visitor Center
For Mill Tours: St. Elias Alpine Guides

Park brochure:
Available in Braille; request it to be mailed to you or pick one up at all four visitor contact stations; Copper Center and Kennecott Visitor Centers and the Ranger Stations in Slana and Chitina.

Public Use Cabins:
Experience the Wrangell-St. Elias Wilderness! There are two public use cabins at Peavine on the Chitistone River in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias. One of the cabins, the larger of the two, closest to the airstrip, has been renovated to meet accessibility standards. The adjacent outhouse also meets accessibility standards. If you can get your wheelchair into and out of a bush airplane and can navigate the gravel pathway from the airstrip to the cabin (approximately 400 yards) this may be the perfect wilderness retreat.

 

 

Click image link to download the NPS app for Audio Description accessibility.

NPS Mobile app

The former NPS AD Tours app is being retired, but the Audio Description accessibility for several exhibits in the park is available by following these steps:

1. Download the free NPS app.
2. Search for Wrangell-St Elias.
3. The app can be saved on your phone or device for offline use when in remote areas without internet service.
4. Click or touch the person icon in the top right corner (my settings in the app).
5. From the menu, choose Audio Description and Tours.
6. Scroll down, click or touch Audio Description Tours.
7. Scroll to the bottom to choose Wrangell-St Elias.
8. Indoor Exhibits of the Kennecott Store/Warehouse, Manager's Office and North Sacking Shed are currently available and more exhibits will be added over time.
   

This app includes audio description designed to assist blind and low vision visitors in navigating and experiencing exhibit spaces at the parks listed in the app. At some parks, the content has been paired with bluetooth proximity triggers that automatically update and provide description for what's nearby as you walk through exhibits. Check at the main visitor center desk for more information about what's available. This app is designed to be used with the screenreader voiceover (apple devices) or talkback (android devices) on your phone.

 

Service Animals - Accessibility (nps.gov website)

Dogs classified as service animals are individually trained to perform a specific task that assists a person with a disability. Service dogs are legally permitted anywhere that visitors can go.

Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.

Emotional support, therapy, and companion animals are not service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They have not been trained to provide a task directly related to a disability, therefore emotional support animals are considered to be a pet.

Service dogs-in-training are not service animals under ADA, but are considered pets. Pets must abide by the Individual Park Pet Regulations (nps.gov website).